


Outed

by Ordinarily



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Drabble, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Lies, Plagg is over it, Secrets, Teasing, They're cute, it's really not that dramatic, playful banter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 16:54:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9334208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ordinarily/pseuds/Ordinarily
Summary: Chat Noir slips up, but Ladybug seems more than willing to forgive him.





	

"Marinette!"

A seemingly harmless statement. A friend, calling out to their partner in worry—or more so, terror—as they hung from a rope swaying from the Eiffel Tower.

A seemingly harmless statement indeed, except for the fact that Marinette was nowhere to be found. Instead, Ladybug was the one suspended from the top of the Eiffel Tower, wrapped in a rope that looked ready to snap. And her name hurdling out of Chat Noir's mouth with about as much confidence as a cheerleader's seemed to make matters worse.

From his stance on the rooftop, he swore he saw her eyes widen, straining to see the idiot who'd just outed her.

_And who had heard the idiot who'd just outed her._

 

* * *

 

He hadn't really even been trying to discover her identity—she preferred to keep it a secret and that was all he needed to respect her wishes.

So when she hurried into class one morning, bandages covering the skin from her right eyebrow down to her cheekbone, he almost doubled over in nausea. He was so stunned—shocked—he'd fled the room with no more than an incoherent 'may I be excused?'

_Marinette... Ladybug..._

"She... I... Those are _my_ bandages. I-I bandaged her up."

Plagg floated up to Adrien's side, placing his tiny paws on the boy's cheeks.

"Slow down kid. You're hyperventilating."

After splashing cold water over his face and pacing back and forth in the boys' washroom for a solid two minutes, Plagg was able to convince him to return to class. At some point in the lesson, he overheard Alya trying to persuade Marinette to give in—tell her about the bandages—but the girl in question kept replying with variations of "I told you, baking accident," to which her best friend responded with, "Marinette, that doesn't even make sense. Come on! What really happened?"

Every little lie she told was beginning to form a complete picture in his mind. A "sorry, I overslept!" here and an "I know I skipped first period, I just wasn't feeling very well," there...

He turned around—to examine the bandages more than anything—

(It was definitely his handy work. His mother had taught him how to make do with scraps of a first aid kit when he was quite little, just incase he needed it one day. Some part of him almost thought she _knew_.)

—and decided he should probably express _some_ concern for her. (Not that he wasn't concerned last night when she got whacked upside the head with a metal pipe.)

"Marinette are you okay?" he finally spoke up.

It came out raspy and dry, his throat feeling like it was closing up. She'd had a hand shielding her eyes, concentrating on the material in front of her and he almost lost it when he recognized the bottom half on Ladybug's face.

She yelped in surprise, sending her pencil flying out of her hand as she tensed and then relaxed.

"Sorry—I—uh—what?"

"What happened?" he tried again, wiggling his index finger in a back and forth motion at the side of his face, mirroring where the bandages were on hers.

"Baking accident," she squeaked and then, as if to avoid any further questions, bent down and searched for her pencil.

But he wasn't letting up that easy—found himself almost...

Angry.

"Oh yeah? That sucks. How'd it happen?"

"Uh—um... The um... The—MIXER! The top part... It—uh... Flew off?"

The blush spreading down her neck and to her ears was really the only confirmation he needed, but the stuttering helped too. And then he noticed the black earrings and messy pig tails and oh my god, how had he not noticed before?

 

* * *

"So how'd you figure it out?"

"It was that day you came into class after Whistler's akumatization."

"Hold on, we're in the same _class_?"

"Indeed we are, Milady."

Chat Noir would've felt so much pride in that moment, saving his partner from utter death moments ago. That made Ladybug: 79 and Chat Noir: ...a whooping 12. But he _may_ have just outted her, so maybe that last save cancelled out.

A whooping 11.

"I'm so sorry about earlier Ladybug... I didn't mean to, it just... Slipped."

"It's okay, Chat. Don't beat yourself up over it. I understand. Besides, I don't think anyone even noticed."

For someone who was so adamant on keeping her identity a secret, she was taking this pretty well.

"If people do find out... I'll reveal myself too."

Ladybug's heart swelled. If the time ever came, there was no way she'd actually let him out himself but for now, she'd accept the offer.

"Does that mean you're _not_ going to tell me who you are?"

He pretended to contemplate it, fighting his smirk. "I'll let you guess."

"Hm... Alright... Kim?"

"He was akumatized."

"Just because we're miraculouses doesn't mean we can't be akumatized."

"I was _there_."

"Oh, yeah... Sorry."

_A whooping 10._

"Nino was akumatized... So was Ivan... Nathaniel? Wait, never mind."

"I'm literally blond."

There was silence for a moment, and then:

"You're not a girl are you?"

Chat straightened up. "Okay this is just getting ridiculous.

And with a flash of green, Chat was back to Adrien and Ladybug was near ready to faint.

"A-Adrien?!" she sputtered in disbelief, "It was _you_ the whole time?"

He shot her a lopsided, boyish grin.

"W-why didn't you say anything?"

Adrien shrugged. "You wanted to keep our identities a secret. I respected that."

Up on the rooftop, Ladybug full-on _squatted_ , unable to comprehend the simple fact that Adrien was Chat Noir and Chat Noir was Adrien. _(And the fact that he was being so sweet.)_

"You're such a dork," she murmured with her hands over her face, and now, more than ever did he think she looked like Marinette. Sure, there'd been times when he'd seen the resemblance, but Ladybug and Marinette were just so _different_. What a shame it had been that he'd only seen the similarities once he found out. They were both brave, and kind, and determined, and selfless...

And Adrien was falling for her.

Her earrings finally gave out and Tikki almost seemed confused, looking between the miraculous holders. And then she spotted Plagg, an excited squeal escaping her as she tackled him, midair. Plagg seemed quite content to see Tikki as well, giving her a little pat on the head.

Removing her hands from her face, Marinette looked up to find her crush extending a hand toward her and helping her up. This would either make things so much easier or so much harder for her, and frankly, she didn't really know which.

"Milady, I don't think I've ever seen you so flustered."

The smug smirk on his face led Marinette to her decision.

"Oh, don't flatter yourself, _Chaton_."

"Hm. You're right. You're much more flustered whenever I utter _a single word_ to you in class."

She was embarrassed. And maybe it was that, or the anger that sprouted from her embarrassment, or the fact that she was talking to over-confident, pun-making, smirking Chat Noir, corners of his lips turned upwards in mirth. But she strode up to him, grabbed his collar and pulled him in for a long, passionate, breath-taking kiss.

When she pulled away, she almost burst into laughter at his reaction. Cute, quiet, poise Adrien Agreste was _flustered_. Red cheeks and parted lips, chest rising and falling and frozen in place.

"Flustered, huh?" she mused, taking a step back and clasping her hands behind her back, feigning innocence.

But there was no way he was having any of it. He inched forward, wanting more, more, _more_ of her—of Marinette, of Ladybug, of her warm touches and soft lips.

"Maybe we should go," whispered, Tikki to Plagg.

Plagg, disgust evident on his face, let the little bug lead him a few rooftops away from the couple.

"I'll never understand it," he mumbled to the other Kwami.

"Aw... I don't know... I think it's sweet," she sighed, tilting her head and bringing her little paws to her cheeks.

Gagging noises sounded from Plagg followed by, "How long do you think this'll take? I'm starving."

* * *

 


End file.
